ORLANDO INSURANCE AGENT
PLEADS NO CONTEST TO FRAUD

An insurance agent has pleaded no
contest to organized fraud and unlawful sale of insurance for soliciting doctors
to buy bogus medical malpractice coverage.

Michael Rock, 34, was arrested on
the charges in November 2002 by investigators with the Department of Financial
Services, Division of Insurance Fraud. Rock entered a plea in Orange County
Circuit Court. Judge Stan Strickland withheld adjudication and ordered Rock to
serve 10 years’ supervised probation and pay restitution of $159,004, in
addition to more than $6,000 in investigative, prosecution and court costs.

According to
state insurance fraud investigators, Rock solicited nearly 10,000 doctors’
offices to purchase medical malpractice insurance through an unlicensed New
Zealand-based company called Embassy Bonding and Surety, Ltd. Several doctors
paid premiums to Rock.

“These
unlicensed entities are preying on physicians who may be having difficulty
obtaining medical malpractice insurance,” said Florida’s Chief Financial Officer
Tom Gallagher, who oversees the Department of Financial Services. “Unlicensed
insurance poses a grave and immediate risk of financial harm to doctors, and
potentially their patients.”

Rock was the
primary Florida promoter for Embassy Bonding. Embassy never applied for a
certificate of authority to transact insurance in Florida, and the insurance
products sold by Rock were worthless. Gallagher issued an Immediate Final Order
in August 2002 shutting down Rock and Embassy’s operations.

Since
February 2001, more than 200 unauthorized insurance entities, marketers,
affiliates, agents and other individuals have been ordered to stop selling
unauthorized insurance in Florida. It is a third-degree felony to transact
unlicensed insurance in Florida.

The department has conducted a statewide public education campaign for more than
two years warning agents and consumers to “Verify Before You Buy.” Consumers
may visit
www.MyFloridaCFO.com and click “Think You’re Covered?” to read administrative
complaints and orders against agents and entities, find out if an insurance
company is licensed in Florida, file a complaint or learn more about unlicensed
insurance.

Consumers may also call the Department of Financial Services’ toll-free consumer
helpline at 1-800-342-2762 to verify that they are dealing with a licensed
insurance company and a licensed agent. The helpline is available Monday
through Friday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The
Department of Financial Services, Division of Insurance Fraud, investigates
various forms of fraud in insurance, including health, life, auto, property and
workers' compensation insurance. Anyone with information about this case or
another possible fraud scheme should call the department's Fraud Busters Hotline
at 1-800-378-0445. A reward of up to $25,000 may be offered for information
leading to a conviction.